SAN DIEGO -
Former San Diego State All-American and current San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard will compete for an NBA title starting Thursday against the Miami Heat. The 6-7 second-year man will be the first Aztec to ever play in the NBA Finals.

In 14 playoff games this postseason, Leonard is averaging 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.6 steals in 37.1 minutes. His steals and minutes played averages are tops among all Spurs, while his rebounding and scoring averages are second and third, respectively. He has scored in double figures 12 times and pulled down double-digit rebounding totals on four different occasions entering The Finals.

Leonard is looking to become the second Steve Fisher-coached player in as many seasons to win an NBA title. Last year, Juwan Howard, who played under Fisher at Michigan, won his first championship as a member of the Heat and will look to capture his second ring with Miami this season.

Fisher, meanwhile, is one of two collegiate coaches, Florida's Billy Donovan being the other, to have tutored multiple players in the 2013 NBA Finals. Fisher has coached Leonard and Howard, while Matt Bonner (SAS), Udonis Haslem (MIA) and Mike Miller (MIA) all played for Donovan.